this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2026
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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The Unix principle is the most over-rated design principle ever. It's sole purpose is to be dragged out when somebody doesn't like your application. Notably the systemd haters don't levy the same complaint about Wayland...
It's based on the idea of programs as "functions" that can be strung together like you often do with things like "cat /etc/passwd | grep user | tr 's/:/,/'" (cat put in there to trigger the right people). That's a great philosophy for cli utilities. But it's not universally applicable.
The goal is not to make things tiny but to make them "the right size." You wouldn't want to run 30 different applications to do what GIMP does and you shouldn't have to.
And the idea of having dozens of viable replacements for different functions is not a Unix thing but pretty restricted to the Linux ecosystem. And it's not like it was planned, it just happened because 12 people went out and wrote their own ntp daemons. There wasn't really much benefit to it. "Oh boy, I can run a different ntpd... And half of them are partially implemented. Hooray?"
I hate Wayland and Systemd.
You're allowed to have programs whose job is to coordinate other programs. You could totally have a version of gimo that just runs whatever separate program on the buffer.
Sure - it's just not always a good idea. Would you want to copy your buffer to a dozen different applications applying filters to an image?
I think this might be the crux of the argument. Wayland is certainly not a cli utility, so there's no need to argue if or how it impacts that environment.
I'm quite familiar with openRC, so when I was introduced to systemd, it felt quite awkward. I use both, but still prefer openRC, maybe still due to familiarity. If I'm operating in an WM or DE, it doesn't really matter that much.
It's been over a decade since I've run an ntp daemon. 😉